DailyDirt: It Doesn't Feel Pity, Or Remorse, Or Fear. And It Absolutely Will Not Stop.

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Robots can be stronger, more robust and invulnerable to certain hazards than people, but at the same time, they can be quite fragile -- breaking down when conditions are slightly different than expected or shutting down completely when programming errors bring their computations to a halt. Luckily for us puny humans, we haven't needed to go head-to-head with any bloodthirsty robots. In the movies, people seem to find convenient Achilles heels for belligerent robots just in the nick of time, but we might not be so fortunate in real life if we make robots smarter and more adaptable than ourselves.

• Researchers are programming robots that can adapt after injury and keep moving using remaining operational appendages. These developers assure everyone that we'll have plenty of time to build in proper safeguards to prevent a robot uprising. Yup. That's how all the robot uprisings begin. [url]
• Machine learning robots are learning physical skills via trial and error. Practice makes perfect for a Willow Garage Personal Robot 2 (PR2) -- but it can take a really long time if you're in a rush to have your robot fully trained to do something complex. [url]
• MIT's robotic cheetah project can now jump over various hurdles autonomously -- and without any kind of tethered connection. We'll have to watch out for this bot when it starts singing "there are no strings on me." [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: artificial intelligence, autonomous robots, biomimicry, locomotion, machine learning, pr2, robotic cheetah, robots, willow garage personal robot 2

DailyDirt: Creepy, Crawly Robots

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Robots that mimic biological organisms can take advantage of centuries (or more) of evolution to perform various tasks. Robot locomotion that cheats off nimble animals could be more adaptable in natural environments -- and animal-inspired bots could teach robot designers about how to make robots that are more flexible in uncontrolled conditions (outside of factories). Here are just a few more examples of biomimicry.

• Snake-like robots have been taught to grab onto things like poles and trees. While some are concerned that these snake bots could also learn how to strangle people, these machines actually look like really smart grappling hooks. [url]
• A soft robotic fish swims like the real animal -- with the ability to rapidly reverse direction in a fraction of a second, just how real fish try to escape predators. This robofish can't swim for very long compared to real fish, but a more advanced robofish might be able to infiltrate a school a fish and help observe natural fish behaviors. [url]
• A robot razor clam can burrow deep into packed sand and serve as an anchor. RoboClam could help bury undersea cables and other underwater tasks, and it borrows some moves from real clams to do its job. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: biomimicry, locomotion, roboclam, robofish, robosnake, robots

DailyDirt: Four-Legged Robot Friends

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

We've pointed out some cool bipedal robots before, but robots that get around without wheels are endlessly fascinating, and apparently, the internet loves cats and so do robot makers. It might not be as fun to name a quadruped robot after a goat or a large farm animal, so big cats seem to be the way to go when describing four-legged bots. Here are just a few examples of cat-like robots that aren't as cute as the real thing.

• Boston Dynamics has posted a video of its quadruped 'Wildcat' robot, galloping and bounding around a parking lot. This robot is a bit loud, moves pretty fast, and looks like a Terminator precursor that will end humanity. [url]
• A small cheetah cub bot is the fastest quadruped robot weighing under 66 lbs (which is apparently the cutoff for a robot lightweight division). It can run about 1.4 meters per second (~3mph), and it actually weighs about a kilogram (or 2.2 lbs). [url]
• A robotics team from South Korea is developing a Cheetaroid bot -- adding to the numerous robotics labs building cat-like bots. Early prototypes of the Cheetaroid use a single motor to drive all four legs, and amusingly, the concept art for the Cheetaroid resembles one of the Voltron lions. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: biomimicry, cheetaroid, locomotion, quadrupeds, robots, voltron, wildcat
Companies: boston dynamics

DailyDirt: More Walking Robots

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Honda's ASIMO and other walking robots don't really look like much of match for catching up with people running away from them. But like zombies, robots never get tired and can just keep walking slowly towards you (as long as their batteries last, that is). Here are just a few examples of some robots that are starting to walk a bit more like us.

• Boston Dynamics has been working on a 6'2" tall humanoid robot named Atlas. It can walk over rubble, and someday it will say, "I'll be back" in an Austrian accent. [url]
• Researchers at the Humanoid Robotics Institute have designed a robotic leg with many of the same joints and features of a human leg. It's actually not that easy to get a robot leg to have all the same range of motions as a real human leg. [url]
• Robot legs using a neural network to mimic human walking has created one of the first biologically-accurate models of the human gait. This research could help us understand how babies learn to walk and how people with spinal cord injuries might learn to walk again. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: asimo, atlas, biomimicry, bipedal, gait, humanoid, locomotion, mabel, robots, terminator, walking
Companies: boston dynamics, darpa, honda, humanoid robotics institute

DailyDirt: Inspired By Nature

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Why re-invent the wheel when you can copy from millions of years of evolution? Okay, so there aren't that many animals that use the wheel for locomotion, but there are plenty of other tricks that biology has figured out. By studying how insects fly, we could improve the designs of future flying robots, and there are some biological materials like spider webs and pearls that we still haven't been able to replicate exactly. Here are just a few other examples of how we're learning from biology.

• The internal structure of firefly lanterns contain sharp-edged scales that can increase the brightness of these bioluminescent insects by over 50%. Creating similar structures for LEDs could similarly improve the brightness of human-made lights, and understanding how these structures work could lead to further improvements. [url]
• Mosquitoes can fly during rainstorms even though a single raindrop carries enough force to kill them. Raindrops *can* actually be deadly to mosquitoes if they fly too low to the ground, but if they're hit above an altitude of 10 centimeters or so, they just fall with the raindrop until they can escape from it and continue flying. [url]
• Adding wings and tails to robots can help them stabilize their locomotion and improve their agility -- much like the effects of wings and tails for birds/lizards. The slo-mo videos of lizards and robots re-orienting in a mid-air fall could someday lead to an awesome hovercraft technology. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: biomimicry, bugs, firefly, insects, led, locomotion, mosquito, raindrops, robots, tails, wings

DailyDirt: Dance, Robots, Dance!

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Watching robots learn how to move can be fascinating, as the machines wobble and tilt almost like infants/toddlers do. But no one really cares if a robot topples over and hurts itself (well, unless you're the owner of a very expensive prototype robot...). If you want to see a few robots moving around gracefully, though, check out these videos.

• The HyTAQ Robot can roll around on the ground and fly over obstacles whenever it needs to. This bot looks pretty crash resistant, and if it can survive kids playing with it, it'd probably be a great toy. [url]
• If you thought only hipsters rode fixies, then you should watch this cute little Japanese robot ride a small bike without brakes. This bot just needs a companion that can ride a recumbent bike.... [url]
• Here's a bipedal robot walking a tightrope, but it sorta cheats because it doesn't lift its feet off the wire once it gets on. (Warning: You might want to mute this video to avoid the dance music.) Maybe someday there will be a robot version of Cirque du Soleil. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: bipedal, bot, hytaq robot, locomotion, robots

DailyDirt: My Robot Lies Over The Ocean...

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Autonomous robots are popping up everywhere. Some can fly, and some can drive. Others can swim across the ocean. Considering that there are still a lot of places in the oceans not yet explored, fish-like robots could gather amazing amounts of data and help us keep an eye on 70% of the Earth's (water-covered) surface. Here are just a few projects that are working on ocean-faring bots.

• Robot fish can mimic how real fish look and move -- and even be accepted into schools of real fish. If these robot fish can figure out how to become fish leaders, they could navigate large numbers of fish directly into fishing nets or away from man-made pollution. [url]
• A Raspberry Pi might be the brains of one of the first autonomous robot boats to cross the Atlantic Ocean without human intervention. This FishPi bot will be solar powered, propelled by a small motor (no sailing!) -- and hopefully it won't get eaten by anything on its trip. [url]
• Underwater gliders have already crossed the Atlantic and are being put to use for scientific, military and commercial applications. These robots are relatively cheap to make and could be produced by the thousands to monitor the oceans. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: autonomous, boats, fish, fishpi, locomotion, mimicry, raspberry pi, robots, sea gliders

DailyDirt: Underwater Robots For Fooling Fish & Finding Foul Waters

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The term "drone" usually refers to a robotic plane, but some robot researchers are developing underwater drones for exploring the oceans and going to some hard-to-reach underwater destinations. A few of these robotic fish projects also mimic real fish locomotion and appearance, so that the robots blend into their environment. Maybe someday these fake fish will replace the real ones in aquariums, and no one will notice....

• Get your own open source underwater robot capable of diving down to 100 meter depths for just $775 on Kickstarter. OpenROV runs on eight C batteries and runs for about an hour at 1m/s. [url]
• A fish-like robot inspired by notemigonus crysoleucas (a species of the Golden shiner) has been accepted into schools of the real fish. The creators of this robot envision the possibility of using remote-controlled fish robots to steer real schools of fish away from pollution (or maybe directly into fishing nets). [url]
• An ocean-going drone could help clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Marine Drone is a concept design for an autonomous robot that can collect plastic debris and other garbage floating around in the oceans. [url]
• The SHOAL project has developed a robotic fish that can detect pollution and monitor water quality. These autonomous robots can work together to cover a square kilometer area to a depth of 30 meters, running on rechargeable batteries that last about 8 hours, and the prototype robots cost about $32,000 each. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: autonomous, biomimicry, drones, fish, great pacific garbage patch, locomotion, openrov, pollution, robots, underwater
Companies: kickstarter

DailyDirt: Robots Making Their Move...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Robot locomotion doesn't seem very natural so far -- and there's almost an "uncanny valley" for how some robots move that make them look undead. But it won't be long before robots are moving more fluidly. Here are just a few projects that are developing machines that can move like animals and people.

• Low-pressure air pumps can power "soft robots" that mimic the locomotion of invertebrates like starfish and squid. Watch them wiggle. See them jiggle. [url]
• The RoboBee is communicating with bees in their own "waggle dance" language. This robot bee isn't quite fluent yet, but it can almost give directions to real bees -- and it doesn't get attacked as an intruder to the hive. [url]
• The University of Michigan's MABEL biped robot can run a little over 6 mph -- beating Toyota's walking robot and ASIMO by a pretty good margin. MABEL will probably catch up to human marathon runners soon, but it isn't a wireless robot yet... [url]
• To discover more interesting robotics-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: biomimicry, biped, locomotion, mabel, robobee, robots, soft robots